“Delegates to the Republican National Convention who are traveling into downtown St. Paul off Interstate 94 next week will be treated to a billboard-sized welcome from the other party. ”

“The Democratic National Committee bought billboard space to display a picture of John McCain embracing President Bush with the message: ‘Does this look like change to you?’ ”

“The Democrats also plan to distribute to reporters a multimedia press kit, which will include flash drives with an extensive catalog of McCain’s record — histories of his votes, past statements and other material the Democrats want to highlight.”

“A team of two dozen Democratic fact checkers will be sending out rapid responses to every GOP speaker.”

“In addition to the visual and multimedia cues, Democrats will hold daily press briefings in downtown St. Paul to counter the Republican message radiating from the Xcel Center. They’re setting up a media center just across the street from the convention center.”

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Peggy Noonan--author, columnist and former speechwriter for Pres. Ronald Reagan--made some startling observations about McCain vice presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin on the MSNBC set at the Republican National Convention today.

Overheard on open microphones along with fellow conservative Mike Murphy after an interview with Chuck Todd, Noonan says "it's over" in reference to the presidential race.

Todd is heard to say, "I mean, is [Palin] really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?" Noonan replies, "The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives and youthfulness and the picture.

"Every time Republicans do that," Noonan continues, "because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it."

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Good lord. thanks for posting that Cat. What a fricken hoot to hear the TRUTH for once. But it shows the complete boldfacedness of the lies the pundits are willing to tell in order to keep whomever pays them happy.

Ah, thank god for the unbiased media. What would we do if we had to deal with lies all the time?

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

Well, if the Palin speech can help keep the momentum over, then the repug chances are not necessarily over.

I get the sense that there is this "win won for the Gipper" mentality that the repug elites are trying to bring-out from their base.

Say what you will about her questionable ethics and "do as I say not as I do" family values, Palin is a good, slick, and sarcastic speaker. Now, if they can just get passed McCain's acceptance speech. She'll continue that style throughout the campaign now. Slick Sarah. The repugs need that cheer leader who knows how to sell a mixed message.

Win one for the Gipper may be just what sends us into another four years of awfulness with a McCain win. He's old, this is his last chance at achieving his heart's desire, and then there's what the Repubs are calling the "hottest VP candidate from the coolest state." Never mind the harm those two can do to us and to the nation as a whole, not to mention the rest of the world.

Many years ago, there was an elderly teacher who had finally decided to retire. Our principal told us in a memo that it would be "very nice if our retiring colleague could be named Teacher of the Year...." (hint, hint). That was back in the days when the faculty chose the person to receive that honor. She was a terrible teacher! But the other teachers fell into lock-step, and the retiring teacher left with the Teacher of the Year honor bestowed on her.

I hope this doesn't happen with this election, but this isn't the same USA it used to be.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I have to believe that there is still much hope for us. There have been many an interview with republican and right leaning independents where (especially among women) there is complete at the blatant attempt to sway hillary supporters and to get dumb dudes to vote for the hot girl.

I have little hope that many repubs will jump ship because they stayed on the damn thing this whole time, but I do think that people will be turned off by the pandering who would have possibly otherwise voted for dumbass uh, I mean McCain. God, this is depressing to have to even consider.

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

It is indeed depressing, and I remember what a blue funk I fell into in 2004 after Kerry conceded so rapidly to the shrub. It hurt to move for several days, and when I did finally become more like my old self, I still felt lethargic and absolutely without hope.

However, it's still early days, and I won't lose hope until after the debates. If Obama and Biden don't do well in those, and I mean as well as Kennedy did against Nixon, it's going to be really hard for those of us who have been at this board and at other boards for the last few years. I'm worried that far too many people still think Obama is a Muslim, that he is going to tax away their present and future pensions by taxing the ultra-rich corporations, and that he's too inexperienced to be president. If you mention Palin as being much more inexperienced, they'll shrug, and say, "Oh...let's give her a chance...." AND I also know people who won't vote for Obama simply because he's black.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman